U Bent Hier

Don't you wish everything in life came with a map, an arrow, and a little tag stating "You Are Here"? Think how much easier it would all be. Until that great day arrives, I'll have to be satisfied with the occasional signs that we seem to come across. We were on our way home from dinner at the Banana Split in Overpelt, and I was taking a couple of pictures through the windshield of the pretty fall leaves. Then Jess (in all her teenage wisdom) asks, "Uh, Mom, why are you taking pictures of a road when there is a windmill?" What? A windmill? There is no windmill on this road! "We just went right by it!" she said, clearly exasperated. (You can practically hear her thinking "Old people are SOOOO slow! Why do I even bother?" ) We turned around, and behold...the teenager was right! Apparently I've driven right by this beauty several times and never noticed it before! Maybe old people ARE slow!

According to the map, there are actually TWO windmills in Overpelt. I'll have to check the other one out as well. I'd also like to return to this one on a prettier day. It was a tad rainy and overcast. Still, any windmill is a glorious one.

In case you are wondering about the fall leaves, here is the picture I was taking as we passed the windmill. You have to admit, it's pretty distracting. Fall has come to Belgium, and it is beautiful. Even us OLD people can appreciate it.

Falconry and Fun At The Wedelse Molen

This is the Wedelse Molen in Overpelt. When I had pictured a little pub in Europe, this is what I had in mind. This building dates back to the 1100's. It was a working, water driven grain (corn) mill from the 1200's until 1957. It was turned into a pub in 1974. There is a really great outdoor seating area out back. (Unfortunately, it was a little rainy today.) It's also where you will find the entrance to the pub. This is a glimpse inside the Wedelse Molen to the inner workings of the grain mill. Everything is still working today, and it's fascinating to watch all of the wheels spinning and connecting with each other. There are stairs to the left of this, and when you go upstairs, you can see where they put the grain in to be ground up.
In case you think this place is all about the history, you need to know the important facts as well. The owner is a very nice fellow, and he told me that they have QUITE the assortment of Belgium beer, both in bottles and on tap. This place has a great reputation for not only delicious beer, but great atmosphere as well. If you ever find yourself in Overpelt, be sure to stop by, check it out, and have a drink.

In the field next to the Wedelse Molen, there is a large field, and that's where the Valkerij & Plattelandsbeurs was taking place today. (That's Falconry- Rural & Exhibition for those of you who aren't up on their Nederlands yet.) All around the field were birds, tethered to little roosts in the ground. In the center of the field was the area where the shows and exhibitions were taking place. It was really fascinating, and I've never been this close to so many species of birds before.
This little fellow wins my first place prize for HOW CUTE IS HE??? It's hard to tell from this picture, but he was TINY!

This fellow was very impressive as well. He looked like he was ready for some serious flying.

Can you tell that I was really interested in the owls? I think I took the most pictures of them. Check out this do!

This owl was more than a little irritated by all of the attention he was getting. Then something caught HIS attention. A couple walking by had brought their little dog with them. He was really checking this little pooch out.
Then he fluffed all up. Now he was bigger than the dog he was checking out. The dog was more than a little intimidated by the whole thing, and they didn't stay very long. Owl-1, dog-0.
Coming from Alaska, I'm pretty used to seeing a lot of eagles. What I'm not used to, is seeing one kept as a pet. There were several eagles here, and they were all trained.
This falcon had the most beautiful coloring. Did I mention that they had a very wide assortment of birds on display? This one was a bit of a surprise to me. They had both vultures and buzzards. I had to end on a cute note, so here is another little fellow with quite the appeal. If you are curious about today's event, here is the link to their official website.
http://www.vepb.be/

Random Ramblings

This is a beautiful statute in Overpelt, right in front of a fantastic restaurant called The Banana Split. I really don't have any information on this particular statute, other than the words "aan onze helden" on the front are Dutch for "Our Heroes". It has the years 1914, 1918, 1940 and 1945 on it and lists the heroes names on each side. There is a lot of history in this country.

On other topics, I've been keeping busy. I try to get out several times a week and check out more of the area. (Mostly that involves shopping, so the hubby might be letting the air out of my tires any day now.) Belgium is a lovely little country, with lots of little towns, connected with lots of winding and multi-sized roads. Just running simple errands can be an adventure. I'm proud to say that after just four short months here, I'm adapting quite well. I am no longer intimidated by busy round-abouts, and now attack them with the zeal of a local. I have mastered the skill of looking 42 different directions at once, while maintaining a speed of 90 clicks and dodging passing cars, scooters, bicyclists and pedestrians. (OK, maybe not 90 clicks in the roundabouts, but sometimes it feels like it.) I still use Tom as my copilot, but I now argue with him instead of simply following his directions blindly. "Are you SURE that way is shorter?" I ask him. Firmly he repeats the instructions, "Left on the roundabout, third exit." I accepted his idiosyncrasies at first, but as time passes, I'm starting to act more like his nagging wife. "Why on earth do you say 'left on the round-about' when all round-abouts are to the right only? Why not say RIGHT on the round-about???" I ask him. Just like any husband (electronic or otherwise), he ignores me and calmly repeats his instructions, "left on the round-about, third exit." Just remember, Tom, unlike my REAL husband, you have an on/off switch on your forehead. Watch the attitude, you big know-it-all. I'm just saying.

If Ye Have Faith As A Grain of Mustard Seed...

There are lots of lovely and interesting sights around this area. This is one of my favorites--fields of mustard plants. Did you know that mustard plants are annuals, and that they originate from Europe and Asia? They have also been around for a VERY long time. It seems that there was a fellow in Rome around 2000 years ago called Plinius the Old, and he actually started the whole mustard craze. (How does one get a name like that? Do you think his parents looked at him and said "Hmmm, he looks like his old uncle Plinius, so we'll name him after him!") Anyhoo, he ground the mustard seeds up, mixed in some vinegar, and the rest is history. His fellow Roman, Palladius, added a little honey and olive oil to the mix, and ended up with the condiment we know and love today. The Romans couldn't keep such a delicious secret to themselves, and it soon spread over the Alps to Europe. France loved it so much that in the 13th century, they became the biggest producer of mustard. They even created their own mustard recipe in the city of Dijan, and that recipe has not changed over hundreds of years. Each year, around 340 million kilograms (around 740 million pounds) of mustard is consumed throughout the world. And you just thought that was a field of pretty flowers! Silly you! What were you thinking???

The 3/50 Project

Ironically, I read about The 3/50 Project on an online scrapbooking sight. With today's economy in the shape that it is, this really makes a lot of sense. You get something that makes you happy, and you help out the local businesses in your area. It's a win-win proposition! So get off the Internet, head out to a local store, and SHOP...SHOP...SHOP! If you'd like more information on this project, here is the link: http://www.the350project.net/home.html

Oh, and since I'm talking about helping others out, here's a little something else to chew on. A couple of days ago, I was buying groceries in the commissary. I live about an hour away from it, so I tend to REALLY stock up when I go there. (I try to buy as much as I can in the local stores, but we love certain things from the US, and other things just can't be found in the local markets.) Needless to say, my total bill was pretty intense. The cashier looked at that amount, then at my three measly coupons, and declared them to be "pathetic". I had to agree with him. I'm used to having a big wad of coupons when I check out, and quite frankly, it was a little embarrassing (and costly!!!) to have only three. Here lies the problem. We don't have newspapers here with coupons for groceries. The Commissary gives us a little flyer with some in it, but nothing like we're used to getting in the Sunday papers back home. Then the cashier did something amazing and unbelievable kind. He handed me an envelope with a huge wad of coupons in it. They were cut out by a group of people in the US and mailed to the Commissary here to help out us service people. I thanked him profusely, and promised to only take out what I could use and pass them on to other members of our base. It's hard to explain how much this act of kindness touched me. I'm sure most of you have never thought about how something this simple can affect another person. I thought that maybe if you had a few minutes on Sunday afternoon, you could cut out the coupons in your Sunday paper and just set aside those you don't use. Maybe in a few weeks or so (when you have a nice little stack), you could send them to a Commissary overseas. We are allowed to use coupons that are 6 months past their expiration date, so if you have some that have expired and you can't use them, then send them along as well. I am attaching a link to commissary locations worldwide, so you can chose any one in any country that you like. It doesn't have to be ours. Family and friends, if you'd like to send yours to me so I can share them with the families at Kleine Brogel, that would be appreciated as well. http://www.commissaries.com/store_locator.cfm

The Mother of All Vending Machines!

Brandon didn't have school today, so as a reward for his running errands with me, we stopped at the Automatenshop to check it out. Remember the small vending machine at Peer that I told you about right after we moved here? Well, this is it's mother! It's one big room, open all the time, and filled with vending machines that sell just about everything! How brilliant is this? This wall is pretty much normal stuff you'd find in vending machines in the states, with one exception. Those red cans in the middle machine are full of Jupiter and Crystal beer. They also sell Red Bull. I had wondered how they can keep the kids from buying beer, and they have this worked out as well. All Belgians are issued an ID card, and you have to put your card into the machine to purchase the beer. Once again, brilliant!The rest of the room is filled with machines that sell food. The machine on the left sells things like sandwich spread and cheese. The one in the center has loaves fresh baked bread. The one on the right has baguette sandwiches. Under the name of each sandwich, they list the ingredients on it. (This is helpful if you can read Dutch. I can tell you which sandwiches have chicken, ham, cheese or mushrooms on them. That just about covers my vocabulary.) On the last wall, there is a machine that sells warm food, like hamburgers and chicken sandwiches. Brandon got the kip sandwich (chicken) and he said it was great!
They also have one that sells small hamburgers and sausage on a bun. The only thing that they were missing is a machine that sells stoofvlees. If they add that to this store, I'm getting a cot and moving in. Feel free to forward my mail there. I'm just saying.

I'm NUTS About My Neighbor!

A few days ago, my neighbor dropped by with a little surprise for me. She had a big plastic bucket filled with these nuts. She called them Castania nuts, and said they were for me! How cool is that? I told her that we love nuts, but I'd never heard of this kind. She told me to crack them open and roast the insides on a cookie sheet. I'm going to give it a shot this weekend! I can't wait!

A couple of hours later, I had another surprise. This time she had two bags: one was filled with walnuts, and the other with hazelnuts. I know what these are, and they are delicious! Sweet!
Did I pick the perfect neighborhood to move into or what? If you find yourself in the area, she told me that there are plenty more where these came from, and I'm welcome to all that I want. Can anyone say "walnut brownies"? Gotta love my neighbors!